| By Sharmain GraingerYou must have heard the expression ‘water is life’ before. But exactly what does this mean to you?Well I can tell you for sure this is no understatement; it means exactly that.In school we are taught that the human adult body is made up of as much as 60 per cent of water. Babies understandably have a higher percentage.This, however,Cheap Jerseys From China, does not mean that we always have enough water in our bodies. There are occasions when our bodies can become dehydrated and this can result from a number of reasons, according to health officials.Dehydration is said to occur when the body loses excessive water and by extension our electrolytes (needed minerals) diminish. While it can be linked to some sicknesses, it must be noted that an individual does not have to be sick to become dehydrated.While among the top triggers of dehydration are vomiting and severe diarrhea, an intense workout or simply being exposed to long hours of fierce sunlight and not consuming enough water daily are definitely factors that lend to dehydration.Dehydration has also been linked to some health conditions such as Type Two diabetes and Inflammatory Bowel Disease.In the case of Type Two Diabetes, an individual can become dehydrated when their blood sugar level is high and their kidneys attempt to filter the body prompting frequent urination. This of course causes the body to lose, too fast, needed fluids.Because of the diarrheal nature of Inflammatory Bowel Disease, persons can suffer from dehydration.CAN DEHYDRATION BE PREVENTED?It is my belief that it really doesn’t take a doctor’s diagnosis to tell you that you are dehydrated.A veteran nurse once told me that ‘if you have a bout of thirst that requires you drinking several glasses for it to be quenched is a clear indication that you are experiencing dehydration’.But can dehydration be prevented? I have long been inclined to believe so.From a relatively young age I remembered being told that at least eight glasses of water should be sufficient to avoid becoming dehydrated.There are, however, other theories to this whole dehydration issue. One that I have read in recent days was authored by Dr. Aaron E. Caroll, a United States-based Paediatrician, which was published online in the New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/25/upshot/no-you-do-not-have-to-drink-8-glasses-of-water-a-day.html?_r=0).Dr. Caroll not only reduced the eight-glass notion to merely a myth, but insisted there was never an inkling of science to support it. In substantiating there is no need for people to drink the mythified amount of water, Dr. Caroll in his exposé made it clear that his deductions were only for persons who are healthy and therefore not subjected to conditions that would require them to consume excess amounts of water.In fact Dr. Caroll, arguing from a purely scientific perspective, pointed out that “there’s no real scientific proof that…drinking extra water has any health benefits.”Yes, you read correctly.According to Dr. Caroll, drinking eight glasses of water per day is nothing but a medical myth.This was definitely a shocker to me, given the fact that I grew up thinking otherwise. I can even remember advising a friend or two about the “so-called” importance of consuming eight glasses of some good old H2O rather than carbonated beverages to ward off dehydration.But while Dr. Caroll did not downplay the importance of drinking ample amounts of water,Cheap Jerseys From China, he did emphasize that “water is present in fruits and vegetables. It’s in juice, it’s in beer, it’s even in tea and coffee.”“Although I recommended water as the best beverage to consume, it’s certainly not your only source of hydration. You don’t have to consume all the water you need through drinks,” he underscored.Based on my further research, though limited to the internet, no one has thus far disputed Dr. Caroll’s disclosure.In fact he has co-authored a paper in 2007 on this “medical myth” which was published in the British Medical Journal, and then a book two years later dispelling the ‘eight glasses’ notion.Now despite the time and effort plugged into dismissing the notion, in words that suggested that he was despondent, Dr. Caroll noted in the New York Times “I thought it would persuade people to stop worrying. I was wrong…”He nevertheless has deduced that “there is no formal recommendation for a daily amount of water people need. That amount obviously differs by what people eat, where they live,Cheap NFL Jerseys China, how big they are and what they are doing.”Now this had me wondering from whence did this ‘drinking eight glass of water per day’ recommendation come. Well I just had to keep reading to get the answer.Based on an article written by Fiona McDonald (http://www.sciencealert.com/there-s-no-evidence-we-need-to-drink-eight-glasses-of-water-a-day-researcher-advises), in which she dubbed ‘drinking eight glass of water’ “the great water myth”, it is generally believed that the source is a 1945 Food and Nutrition Board Recommendation report. The report, she revealed, states that ‘a suitable allowance of water for adults is 2.5 litres daily in most instances. An ordinary standard for diverse persons is one millilitre for each calorie of food’.McDonald, who highlighted Dr. Caroll’s work, and that of Dr. Heinz Valtin from Dartmouth University,Jerseys NFL Wholesale, United States, who in a 2002 review spoke of ‘water myth’, sought to point out that while the 2.5 litres Food and the Nutrition Board Recommendation is essentially, more or less, equivalent to eight glasses “what’s usually ignored from that report is the crucial next sentence: Most of this quantity is contained in prepared foods.”Some might call me gullible,Cheap Jerseys From China, but I do believe it is high time to dispel the eight glasses theory that has consumed so many of us for so long. After all,NFL Jerseys From China, I couldn’t put it over more eloquently than McDonald who noted that “…don’t stress out about following some pre-prescribed formula to health, because all it’s going to do is see you running to the bathroom more often than you need to. And ain’t nobody got time for that.” |
